- #1
Bhope69199
- 42
- 3
I am reading about gas discharge tubes and can't work out the types of energy and energy conversion that occurs in a gas discharge tube.
Initially before the tube is switched on you have an inert gas with kinetic energy.
As soon as the tube is switched on there is an an electric field between two electrodes which ionises the gas. The energy is provided by the power source as say chemical energy. This chemical energy is being converted into electrostatic potential energy within the electrodes. This electrostatic potential energy is transferred through the electric field to the gas ions.
This electrostatic potential energy is then converted to kinetic energy once the ions are accelerated towards the electrodes.
Once they hit the electrodes this kinetic energy is transferred to the electrodes and back into the power source or lost through the collision with the electrode.
Do the electrodes lose electrostatic potential energy once the gas is ionised (as it is being transferred to the gas ions?)? And is this being replaced by the movement of electrons to the electrodes by the power source? (Chemical energy into electrostatic potential energy in the case of a battery?)
Is this process of energy transfer correct in this case and are there any other energy transfers that I am missing?
Thanks.
Initially before the tube is switched on you have an inert gas with kinetic energy.
As soon as the tube is switched on there is an an electric field between two electrodes which ionises the gas. The energy is provided by the power source as say chemical energy. This chemical energy is being converted into electrostatic potential energy within the electrodes. This electrostatic potential energy is transferred through the electric field to the gas ions.
This electrostatic potential energy is then converted to kinetic energy once the ions are accelerated towards the electrodes.
Once they hit the electrodes this kinetic energy is transferred to the electrodes and back into the power source or lost through the collision with the electrode.
Do the electrodes lose electrostatic potential energy once the gas is ionised (as it is being transferred to the gas ions?)? And is this being replaced by the movement of electrons to the electrodes by the power source? (Chemical energy into electrostatic potential energy in the case of a battery?)
Is this process of energy transfer correct in this case and are there any other energy transfers that I am missing?
Thanks.